Nina Pham is Ebola-Free, Meets With President Obama in Oval Office

Nina Pham, the first American to test positive for the Ebola virus, has been declared “virus free” by the National Institute of Health. She walked out of the Bethesda facility where he has been isolated, and was ushered into the Oval Office for a meeting with President Obama a short time later.

Nina contracted the virus while caring for a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, at a Dallas area hospital where he later died. Ms. Pham was transferred to Bethesda and has been under quarantine there for the past week (the Dallas-area hospital where she works does not have a Biocontainment Unit which conforms to CDC protocols).

Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, confirmed that five polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were all clear of the virus. “She has no virus in her. She’s cured of Ebola, let’s get that clear.”

Ms. Pham talked briefly with reporters before being taken to the White House and said:

I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today. I know that it may be awhile before I have my strength back, so with gratitude and respect … I ask for my privacy and my family’s privacy.

Animal lovers will want to know, her dog has also been cleared of the virus, and they’re both headed home.